SPEAKOUT

APPARENTLY THE PERSON who is confused about the Shawnee environmentalists was even more confused than she or he imagined. As I understand it, the protesters are not against timber cutting; they are against timber cutting on public lands. They feel that there is enough timber on private land to support the timber industry and that tax money should not be going to subsidize low-cost timber cutting in our national forests. This may or may not be correct; however, there is no hypocrisy involved in their using paper to collect signatures. Thank you.

I'VE BEEN READING in the paper about so much stealing and shoplifting. I have a message for the people who are doing it. Part of it is teenagers going out for kicks, seeing how much they can get by with. The time is coming when, if you continue, you'll be in prison. If you wake up and stop, then you must pay back what you have taken. The day will come when you'll be spending sleepless nights and suffering a lot because of what you've done. Your conscious will not let you rest. Try to straighten up your life. Ask God to forgive you and then go on from there. If you don't, some day you're going to have to face your maker.

I HAVE A suggestion for the postal department, which said on the news last night that they were coming up short. Since the increase in postage, their profits were down 10 percent. What needs to be done to the postal department is start putting the carriers on foot and making these routes walking routes. Do away with about half of the vehicles they have. There would be no need for any deficit. Another thing that I find discouraging when I go to the post office is, in the lobby there can be 20 to 30 people and a clerk or two will close their window and leave on a break. To me this is ludicrous to close a window when the public is standing in line to be waited on.

I JUST WONDER how many of the troops from the Middle East will join up with the American Legion and VFW. They're all eligible to join. I wish they would all pick up and join. Thank you.

I HAVE ALWAYS said that someone could lose their life over this Iran affair with the hostages, and it might just have happened with the man that was supposed to have committed suicide. Someone in Washington may be a little nervous about this.

I AM CALLING Speak Out because there is something that has been bothering me for some time, ever since my son has been driving an automobile. Car insurance for young male drivers is outrageous. It cost about four times more money for my son to have just liability insurance than it does for a girl the same age. He needs full coverage but cannot afford it because it will cost about $500 every 6 months. Not many young men going to school and working part time can afford this. There are just as many teenage girls driving as boys. There are just as many of these teenage girls having wrecks as teenage boys. I feel my son is paying more than his share of insurance. He has never had a speeding ticket or a wreck. I think insurance companies should do some refiguring and make insurance premiums for teenage boys equal to teenage girls. Thank you.

THIS IS RESPONSE to the editorial about SEMO University installing elevators to meet federal guidelines. The editorial suggests that the university deserves a delay requiring the elevator installation because they have not been awarded enough money from the state. It seems strange that the university can afford more than $1 million to move their sports teams to Division I athletics but can't afford handicapped facilities for their students. As a SEMO student I serious question the need for Division I athletics facilities such as the Show Me Center. I believe student services and facilities are the most important needs, not new football jerseys.

I'M CALLING IN regards to the KBSI airing the Elvis show. I watched 20 minutes of it and believe it's the most ridiculous program I've ever watched on television. It looks like KBSI is stooping pretty low just to fill time slots. I can't believe they'd do something just for money. It's obvious they're reading off of a script. It's just a terribly produced television program and I can't see how anyone even watched it. Thanks.

I JUST READ an article in the Aug. 13 Southeast Missourian about a new vice president and dean of students at SEMO. Women sure have no arguments about any hiring quotas at SEMO. Don't they hire men at high-level positions at the university any longer?

THIS IN REGARDS to the comment about the oriental people having a right to be here. That should only be if they pay their own way because there are people right here in this country that can't afford to go to college that deserve more than they do. Thank you.

I'D JUST LIKE to say thanks to KAPE radio for airing Central Plains Regional baseball. We really appreciate it. Thanks KAPE.

THE SHOW ABOUT Elvis Presley on channel 23 tonight is the biggest bunch of junk I have ever seen in my life. Thank you.